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I recently got asked a question I couldn't answer by an admiring passer by, as a sat having a coffee next to my parked up 81 Sport, and I couldn’t answer it.

Can you back date a K model to appear an older spec?

The admirer, an elderly Italian gent now settled in the UK, apparently and briefly owned a late 70's (he couldn't remember the year, but chrome mudguards, single paint colour) Sport back in italy, which he thought was the best looking model. Ive no idea.

TimBell1962 wrote: ↑10 Sep 2025 14:19 ...Can you back date a K model to appear an older spec? ...

Hi Tim.

Well, you can go a certain amount of the way towards making a K Sport look like an earlier model but it will never be entirely convincing. The biggest giveaway is the frame. The early bikes have straight down tubes and the later ones kinked downtubes which means the front engine mounting plates are different.

Some parts may be a straight swap. Probably front mudguards, headlamp, indicators and instruments as long as you change everything including the mounting plates.

Early fuel tanks bolt on at the front whereas the K's slip over a spigot. The seats mount differently also, the early seats being held at the back by two threaded knobs similar to side panel knobs.

Talking of side panels, if you try to fit early ones to a K you would probably have to remove the tailpiece mounts in front of the shock mounts as they would look a bit odd. The late '70's pointy ones would probably fit straight on but with the early rounded type you would certainly need to remove the mount for the electric starter solenoid.

As the electric starter would be going, you could fit the early slimmer right hand side engine case, but you would first have to remove the steel ring on the alternator that the starter shoes grip onto. With the slimmer side case you may also need to change the footrests or fit rearsets.

I imagine that silencers are interchangeable. Not sure about the early/late exhaust heat shields. It is possible to swap from cast wheels to wire ones although finding the right hubs may prove difficult and expensive.

I have attached a couple of photos which show the obvious differences. The bike in the third photo appears to be some sort of an interim bike with parts of the old and the new. It has a kinked frame and later front mudguard and silencers, but also the earlier tank, seat and side panels. Moto Morini tended to produce bikes according to what parts/paint/ancillaries were available on the day. That is partly why you won't find any 'rivet counters' in our club.

So, in answer to your question, the answer would have to be no. Best to buy the bike you want and enjoy it.

Wow, thank you, that was more comprehensive than I was expecting.

I think photo 3 nailed it. The chap was saying his had front mudguard similar to mine, but the seat and rear mudguard differed, although his seat description was that of a original series model with the rounder seat hump.

Bless him, he was so pleased to see another Morini, made his day.

Well, the rounded early Sport seat would certainly fit onto the bike in photo three. Maybe he had something of an interim bike?

Either way, I'm pleased to hear that your lovely Morini made an old man very happy!

I have an early Sport seat on my K framed Sport (which also has a 501 engine and exhaust system shoehorned in). It was mounted by Alex of NLM back in the day - he welded on two horizontal circular rods to locate the front of the early seat and bodged the retaining screw fitting as their seat had already been bodged on another bike before I got it from them around 20 years ago.

PS: These days I'd be equally happy if my bike had the K's seat unit but those parts would have been sold by NLM many years ago and it doesn't matter enough for me to seek out those parts.

None of my 6+ Morinis is original, when I bought each of them they'd already been adapted and I've done likewise. The old man could buy Steve Brown's wire-wheeled Sport and make another old man happy

To complete the effect he could pay in lira, too.